Migrating from older versions

Normally new versions of Grafana are backward compatible. Any changes to database or dashboard schema will be automatically migrated when Grafana-server start up without any user action required.

Migrating from v1.x to v2.x

Grafana 2.0 represents a major update to Grafana. It brings new capabilities, many of which are enabled by its new back-end server and integrated database.

The new back-end lays a solid foundation that we hope to build on over the coming months. For the 2.0 release, it enables authentication as well as server-side sharing and rendering.

We’ve attempted to provide a smooth migration path for v1.9 users to migrate to Grafana 2.0.

Adding Data sources

The config.js file has been deprecated. Data sources are now managed via the UI or HTTP API. Manage your organizations data sources by clicking on the Data Sources menu on the side menu (which can be toggled via the Grafana icon in the upper left of your browser).

From here, you can add any Graphite, InfluxDB, elasticsearch, and OpenTSDB data sources that you were using with Grafana 1.x. Grafana 2.0 can be configured to communicate with your data source using a back-end mode which can eliminate many CORS-related issues, as well as provide more secure authentication to your data sources.

Note When you add your data sources please name them exactly as you named them in config.js in Grafana 1.x. That name is referenced by panels, annotation and template queries. That way when you import your old dashboard they will work without any changes.

Importing your existing dashboards

Grafana 2.0 now has integrated dashboard storage engine that can be configured to use an internal sqlite3 database, MySQL, or Postgres. This eliminates the need to use Elasticsearch for dashboard storage for Graphite users. Grafana 2.0 does not support storing dashboards in InfluxDB.

You can seamlessly import your existing dashboards.

Importing dashboards from Elasticsearch

Start by going to the Data Sources view (via the side menu), and make sure your Elasticsearch data source is added. Specify the Elasticsearch index name where your existing Grafana v1.x dashboards are stored (the default is grafana-dash).

Importing dashboards from InfluxDB

Start by going to the Data Sources view (via the side menu), and make sure your InfluxDB data source is added. Specify the database name where your Grafana v1.x dashboards are stored, the default is grafana.

Go to Import dashboards view

Go to the Dashboards view and click on the dashboards search drop down. Click the Import button at the bottom of the search drop down.

Import view

In the Import view you find the section Migrate dashboards. Pick the data source you added (from Elasticsearch or InfluxDB), and click the Import button.

Your dashboards should be automatically imported into the Grafana 2.0 back-end.

Dashboards will no longer be stored in your previous Elasticsearch or InfluxDB databases.